Monday Morning Musings May 10th, 2010

Right now...5:57 a.m.  It is bright and clear out, the sun just having topped the horizon.  The birds are singing, and it is rather chilly--45 degrees right now.  The house is quiet, everyone still asleep.  The cows and calf are out grazing and the puppies are exploring together, tails wagging and noses to the ground.

This past weekend...Saturday was spent in the kitchen.  I made the pasta salad I always make, and the cheesecake.  It was very, very good.  I made it with a chocolate crust, and I will no doubt save the recipe!

In the afternoon we went grocery shopping and went to Taco Bell for dinner, as we still had showers and baths to do when we got home.  I put away groceries and tidied up the kitchen until nearly 8:00, and we sat down to watch a Netflix movie about Marco Polo.  Or rather, an hour of it, since it was a 3-hour film.

Yesterday was lovely.  Mass with my mother, home to change clothes and pack up all the food, then off to my sister's place.  The weather was cool in the shade, but warm in the sun, and the kids spent most of the time outdoors.  We had an abundance of food, and everything tasted great.  My mother really enjoyed her gifts.  She and my mother-in-law both received photo books from Shutterfly with photos of the kids from the last 12 months or so.  I also gave her an edition of the Rubaiyat of Omar Kayam with illustrations by Edmund Dulac.  She and I share a love of beautifully illustrated books.  And Bret gave her an orbital car buffer light enough for her to handle.  Since she is very fond of her car, it was a well-chosen gift.  Back at home we finished watching Marco Polo, and then I went to bed even before the kids, I was so tired!
   
Some plans for this week:  School, haircuts (oh, is there something I can wash the boys' hair with to make it stop growing so fast???); make an appointment to get the pups neutered; planting marigolds in my tomato bed (the year before last, the blister beetles destroyed the marigolds, but they left the tomatoes alone); mulch the tomato and herb beds; dental appointment for the 3 oldest kids tomorrow; order some organic coconut oil so that I can make another batch of granola.  Thinking about a trip to our local "Pick Your Own" strawberry farm...

If I can find some time for myself, I want to... work a bit on the period dress for Una.  I have a muslin cut out for the bodice, and I need to sew it up and try it on Una before I cut into my fabric, even if the fabric is $2.50/yd from Wal-Mart.  I need to order some brown piping and ribbon for a sash as well.

I have also started another sweater for Gemma.  I can't decide whether I like the yarn or not.  It is colorful, which I like for spring and summer sweaters (as hot as it gets here, we wear sweaters to Mass because they have the AC turned up all summer to a point where only penguins could find it comfortable), but I don't know that it doesn't look better on a skein than it does as a sweater...it actually looks a little garish in the harsh light of morning...

I also want to start making a list of things to knit as Christmas gifts.  I'm not very fast and have limited free time, so I really need and early start!

Special prayer intentions: continued prayers for my friend Cindy and her family, as they move toward possibly selling their place and purchasing another, closer to the Fathers of Mercy and the opportunity to assist at Mass daily again; for all our endeavors, in school and at work, that we may be productive and meet with success; for heavenly guidance when it comes to choosing curricula for next year.  I hate buying things that do not get used.  I am almost ready to have my own online curriculum fair to sell off all the things I have purchased over the years and not used!

Something that makes me smile: Una playing with her brothers and having a good time of it.  All too soon she will be a young lady and will no longer enjoy their rough-and-tumble games...

If you want to borrow the header image and do your own Monday Morning Musings, go ahead  and let me know in the comments so I can read your post.  Link back to mine, if you would.  Have a blessed week!